In recent times, the interior or passenger compartment of passenger vehicles has been designed to make the compartment as safe as possible for the occupants, especially in the event of a collision. In an effort to make the passenger compartment as safe as possible, designers have attempted to eliminate as much as possible, protruding knobs, handles, levers, etc. In many instances, operating knobs have been replaced with touch switches or the knobs have been recessed. Handles to operate the latch on the doors have been recessed, and in so doing, it frequently has been necessary to make other provisions for a handle that the occupant can grasp to pull the door closed. Also, in recent years, as an aid to the comfort of the passengers, armrests have been provided on the doors. The most recent designs have combined the armrest and a grab handle into a single component that is firmly affixed to the door and serves the function of providing a comfortable armrest while at the same time providing a strong handle that the user can grasp to pull the door closed. Of course, these grab-handle armrests have also been designed to be aesthetically pleasing as well as safe with no sharp edges or protruding components that could in any way contribute to the injury of a passenger.
In order to make the grab-handle armrest functional, safe and aesthetically pleasing, these units are commonly made with a rigid insert that provides the strength for the grab handle and also allows the unit to be securely affixed to the door. The insert is then covered with a foam and a soft but durable skin of vinyl material matched to the decor of the interior passenger compartment. Commonly, the insert includes a back plate that serves to contain the foam and hold the soft vinyl skin in place when the unit is affixed to the vehicle door. The prior art method for producing the grab-handle armrest is to first prepare the rigid insert, which is commonly made of somewhat rigid plastic, in a single piece shaped to provide a skeleton for the necessary strength for the grab-handle armrest. The insert is then placed in a mold and covered with vinyl using an injection molded process. The partially formed part is then removed and placed in a separate mold where the empty space around the armrest portion is foamed. Because of the process, no foam reaches the inboard side of the armrest. This commonly-used process produces a satisfactory grab-handle armrest, but the inboard side of the armrest, being covered only with the vinyl skin, presents a hard surface to the passenger. Also, the transition from the hard inboard side to the softer foam covered top surface creates a visible transitional line which some vehicle manufacturers find objectionable. Moreover, the insert is not a precision molded component and therefore the inserts will vary slightly in size. This somewhat large tolerance in size must be allowed for in the injection mold where the vinyl skin is formed. The space created by the extra tolerance in the injection mold is therefore filled with vinyl, and the present process thus requires a relatively large amount of vinyl material to both cover the insert and produce the desired exterior configuration. Also, although the vinyl is somewhat soft, the inboard surface is not as comfortable as it could be if the armrest contained vinyl-covered foam over the inboard side.
The cost of even a single component in passenger vehicles can be critical, and even a slight reduction in cost of a single component is highly desirable. Therefore, if the more expensive vinyl could be replaced with less expensive foam, the cost saving would be worthwhile. Moreover, as manufacturers strive to increase the quality of not only mechanical components but also of the fit and finish of their products, components that were once acceptable may no longer be acceptable even if the appearance and quality are slightly improved. As manufacturers of vehicles become more competitive and consumers more critical of quality and price, there is a need for improvement in any and all vehicle components, and the methods for making them, in quality, function and appearance as well as a need for cost reduction.